Rotary material press



June 10, 1958 I A. AZZlNl ET AL 2,837,762

ROTARY MATERIAL PRESS Filed NOV. 12, 1953 mm-um INVENTORS 141v ro/v/o A z 1 //v/ GeAz/xwo AZZ/Nl BY UMRM +M-1 3 AGENTS United tates Patent ROTARY MATERIAL PRESS Antonio Azzini and Graziano Azzini, Milan, Italy Application November 12, 1953, Serial No. 391,602

2 Claims. (Cl. 17-37) This invention relates to material conveyors or presses,

' and more particularly to devices for filling containers with materials supplied in bulk form.

For filling containers with soft or semi-hard pastes it is known to use a cylinder open at one end and a piston having exactly the same diameter as the cylinder, the cylinder having at one end an orifice through which the paste exudes under the action of the piston. However, when the piston has completed a full stroke it need necessarily be reciprocated to fill up the cylinder anew before recommencing the pushing action.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved conveyor device for filling containers, which device avoids waste motion as exemplified above and which operates rapidly and efiiciently to perform its function.

A press or conveyor according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a cylinder rotating inside of a shaped body and provided with blades running in grooves in said body, each of said blades being provided with two projections intended to cooperate with a guide groove presented by said body so that each blade will be at all times in contact with the cylinder and at a variable distance from the rotation axis so as to realize between the blades and the revolving cylinder variable volume chambers intended for the transfer of the material from the charging end to the outlet.

For insuring the filling of the spaces between the blades, a suction device is provided which puts the inside of the cylindrical body under a vacuum.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the annexed drawing schematically representing an embodiment of the invention, wherein specifically Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the device and Fig. 2 is an end view of the device at the end from which the material is exuded.

According to Fig. 1, the machine includes a body 1 inside of which rotates the cylinder 2. In the latter are radial openings in which a number of blades 3 are slidable. Dotted line 4 represents a guide groove formed in the two side walls of the body 1, which groove constitutes a guide for the blades 3 due to the elfect of two side pins (carried by each blade) sliding effectively in said grooves. The grooves are formed by two arcs of a circle coaxial with the rotational axis of the cylindrical body and each having a different diameter, one corresponding to the blades fully protracted and the other to the blades fully withdrawn. The two arcs are connected by two portions determining the egress and the withdrawing of the blades. The paste in the spaces between sequential blades is continuously pushed toward the outlet aperture 7 by the paste immediately following due to the withdrawal of the blades.

2,837,762 Patented June 10, 1958 The paste is fed into the hopper 8 which is maintained full at all times. By means of a pump, a vacuum is produced through opening 9 in the interior of body 1 (which is primed by filling the portion going to orifice 7) in such a way that the paste completely fills the empty space between the blades and is pushed in the direction of the rotation of the cylinder.

In Fig. 2 at base 16 the reduction gear and speed control are seen, at 11 the motor and at 12 the air pump. At 13 there is the air suction conduit and at 14 the air outlet orifice. At 15 is the cover of body 1 fixed to the latter by nuts or wing nuts 16. Of course, the shape of the parts composing the machine and their reciprocal arirangement can be varied without departing from the inventive concept and consequently without going outside of the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A material. press comprising a hollow body defining a substantially cylindrical enclosure, cylinder defining radial slots, an exit tube extending from said body with one side substantially tangentia to said body, an axle rotatably supporting said cylinder eccentrically in said cylindrical enclosure, the opposite side of said exit tube being substantially tangential to said cylinder, blades slidably mounted in the radial slots, pins on said blades, means defining grooves for receiving said pins and guiding said blades to maintain the outer edges of the latter normally adjacent said body, a hopper having an opening into said enclosure for feeding material into engagement with said blades in said enclosure, means for rotating said cylinder in the direction moving said blades from said opening of the hopper past said exit tube in the general direction in which the latter extends from said body, means for producing a vacuum, conduit means communicating said means for producing a vacuum with said enclosure and opening into the latter at a location between said exit tube and said opening of the hopper considered in said direction of movement of the blades so that the relative low pressure thus created in said enclosure induces the movement of material from said hopper into said enclosure to fully charge the spaces defined between successive blades, while movement of the blades from said location toward said opening of the hopper ensures against the entry of material into said conduit means, said grooves guiding said blades adjacent to said body until they force the material directly into said exit tube and thereafter withdrawing said blades for travel adjacent said body in accordance with the eccentric disposition of said cylinder.

2. A press as claimed in claim 1 comprising a single motor actuating both said means for rotating the cylinder and said means for producing a vacuum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 2,329 Weeks Aug. 7, 1866 475,367 Wassermann May 24, 1892 1,575,405 Anderson Mar. 2, 1926 2,166,530 Morgan July 18, 1939 2,581,828 Adams Jan. 8, 1952 2,681,279 Sloan et al June 15, 1954 2,690,589 Moses Oct. 5, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 445,393 Italy r- Feb. 14, 1949 

